Dasher

Dasher may refer to any of the following:

People with the surname

Santa Claus's reindeer

Santa Claus's reindeer form an imaginary team of flying reindeer traditionally held to pull the sleigh of Santa Claus and help him deliver Christmas gifts. The commonly cited names of the reindeer are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. They are based on those used in the 1823 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (commonly called "The Night Before Christmas"), which is arguably the basis of reindeer's popularity.

The enduring popularity of the Christmas song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has led to Rudolph often joining the list.

List of reindeer

In traditional lore, Santa Claus's sleigh is led by eight reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder (variously spelled Donder and Donner), and Blixem (variously spelled Blitzen and Blixen), with Rudolph being a 20th-century inclusion.

The names Dunder and Blixem derive from Germanic words for thunder and lightning, respectively.

Origins

Eight reindeer

The 1823 poem by Clement C. Moore "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (also known as "The Night Before Christmas" or "'Twas the Night Before Christmas") is largely credited for the contemporary Christmas lore that includes the eight flying reindeer and their names.

Dasher (software)

Dasher is an input method and computer accessibility tool which enables users to write without using a keyboard, by entering text on a screen using a pointing device such as a mouse, a touch screen, or mice operated by the foot or head. Such instruments could serve as prosthetic devices for disabled people who cannot use standard keyboards, or where the use of one is impractical.

Dasher is free and open-source software, subject to the requirements of the GNU General Public License (GPL), version 2. Dasher is available for operating systems with GTK+ support, i.e. Linux, BSDs and other Unix-like, Mac OS and Microsoft Windows, Pocket PC, iOS and Android.

Dasher was invented by David J. C. MacKay and developed by David Ward and other members of MacKay's Cambridge research group. The Dasher project is supported by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and by the EU aegis-project.

Design

Whatever the writer uses as a pointer, he/she selects a letter from ones displayed on a screen, whereupon the system uses a probabilistic predictive model to anticipate the likely character combinations for the next piece of text, and accord these higher priority by displaying them more prominently than less likely letter combinations. This saves the user effort and time as they proceed to choose the next letter from those offered. The process of composing text in this way has been likened to an arcade game, as users zoom through characters that fly across the screen and select them in order to compose text. The system learns from experience which letter combinations are the most popular, and changes its display protocol over time to reflect this.

Mortal

Mortal means susceptible to death; the opposite of immortality.

Mortal may alternatively refer to:

See also

Mortal (band)

Mortal was a Christian industrial/dance band fronted by Jerome Fontamillas and Jyro Xhan. Both members went on to found the alternative rock group Fold Zandura, and for a time were members of both bands simultaneously. The band is known for its lyrical intelligence, incorporating advanced theology with what has been billed as "Industrial Praise and Worship." According to CCM Magazine "Mortal has had a much greater influence... on industrial music than its modest output would suggest."

Background

Led by the duo Jerome Fontamillas and Jyro Xhan, Mortal was one of the first Christian bands to play industrial metal. While not actually the first to do so, Mortal enjoyed significant success, and, along with other early contemporaries such as Circle of Dust and Argyle Park, played a notable role in paving the way for future Christian industrial and industrial metal bands.

The group began in 1988 as Mortal Wish, and produced a six-song demo with additional members Ray Tongpo and Wilson Peralta. They shortened their name, signed a record deal with Intense Records and released their first album Lusis in 1992, produced by Terry Scott Taylor and Allan Aguirre of Scaterd Few. It was well received by the critics, with CCM Magazine dubbing Lusis the "strongest debut project to enter the Christian market in years." The second album Fathom (1993) was Mortal's most guitar-driven, and became one of the band's most popular releases. The song ”Rift” was rearranged later and a music video was shot for it in 1994. The video dealt with the horrors of child abuse.

Mortal (novel)

Forbidden is a science fiction fantasy novel by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee, published in February 2013. It is the second book in a trilogy.

Plot

Nine years have passed since hero Rom Sebastian first stumbled upon a secret vial of blood capable of bringing himself back to life. He has survived impossible odds, and has created a secret faction of followers who have also taken the blood, the first Mortals in a dead world. The Order has built an elite army in which to hunt down and crush the living. Division and betrayal pose a threat to the Mortals from within. Jonathan is the only one who has the true life blood flowing through him, and he can save all humanity. Jonathan is waiting to step up to the throne on his 18th birthday. Saric develops the Dark Bloods, and revives his sister Feyn. She will reign and treat her brother as her Maker. When Jonathan tries to heal a Dark Blood, it begins to deteriorate his purity. The only hope for surviving is on the edge of collapse, and no one is certain of the path to survival.